


Hoops

by myamya



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Main Video Game Series), Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types, Pocket Monsters: Sword & Shield | Pokemon Sword & Shield Versions
Genre: Friendship, I'll add more characters as they appear - Freeform, M/M, Partying, Raihan is silly, getting drunk, i only rated this T because of the alcohol, kinda hinting at romance?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-04
Updated: 2020-01-03
Packaged: 2021-02-26 00:41:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 11,706
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21664621
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/myamya/pseuds/myamya
Summary: Galar's hosting a big cross-region League gala event and Raihan really doesn't want to go. But thanks to free flowing alcohol, food and a fellow leader by the name of Piers, maybe the night won't be so bad after all.
Relationships: Raihan/Piers
Comments: 14
Kudos: 201





	1. Chapter 1

Raihan glanced over at the small table on the other side of the hotel room, trying to see what the time on the digital clock said. But unfortunately, past Raihan had screwed him over when he’d turned the clock away from the bed last due to the LED lights keeping him awake. Letting out an audible groan, he slowly propped himself up onto his elbows before fully committing and pushing himself to a proper seated position on the bed. He hadn’t been napping, he’d just been sitting there scrolling through Pokebook and wasting entirely too much time. In fact, he’d wasted so much time that his Rotom phone had died and that’s why he was in this predicament with the clock to begin with.

He spun the small device around and groaned again. 5:38, it read. He should probably get up and start getting ready, he was supposed to be at Wyndon Stadium in half an hour. You see, the reason he was in the city to begin with was because of a big cross-region League gala event that Galar was hosting. They happened every four years and each time a different region would host, usually holding the event somewhere in their largest city. All the gym leaders and elite League staff would attend, so you know no pressure or anything. There would be speeches, food, alcohol, a DJ, you name it. It was apparently done to strengthen the relations between the different Leagues or something (Leon had told him why once) but for all intents and purposes, it was just a giant party.

Sounds fun, right? It was _i_ _n theory_ but in reality it was awkward city, population him _._ He wanted to melt into a puddle when he thought back to the last one where little twenty-two year old Raihan ran around trying introduce himself to different gym leaders and make small talk about things he had no idea about. Inter-region politics and something called Team Flare had been the hot topics of conversation that night. He had a vivid memory of asking this one guy, Morty if he recalled correctly, if he was from the Saffron City gym and had received a deadpan no in response. He still cringed if he thought about it too much, the strongest gym leader in Galar not even knowing his geography. Yikes.

So yeah, he wasn’t really that keen on repeating that.

But he had no choice, did he? They’d flown all the Galarian leaders in yesterday and put them up in Rose of the Rondelands so it wasn’t as if he could just back out and head home. But let him tell you, he was fighting every urge not to.

With an almighty push, he finally got up off the bed and grabbed his suit that was hanging from the back of the hotel door. He’d had it dry cleaned a few days ago in preparation and the store had used poison-type Pokemon to help out with the process. Efficient and a quick turnaround, but it made the material smell funny.

It was a new suit too, bought a few months ago when he’d received the official invite for this damn event. Dark blue, silver buttons, very flash if you asked him. It even had a little pocket square with a Duraludon pattern all over it, he had to look good for all those selfies after all. The last time he’d worn a suit had been this very event in Sinnoh and he was intending on just wearing the same one, no reason to go and spend all that money on a new kit. But when he’d tried it on, that plan was nixed. Apparently he’d grown a foot since then and no longer had the fast metabolism of a twenty-two year old. That had been a rude surprise, so off to the tailor it was.

He yanked his hoodie off and started the process of putting the suit on and _boy_ was it a process. Undershirt, shirt, trousers, belt, jacket, tie, appropriate socks, shoes, the whole nine yards. A quick spray of the cologne Leon had given him last birthday ( _“you always smell like a sandstorm” “what does that even mean?”_ ) masked the scent of the drycleaning and then he was good to go.

But first it was photo time. He unplugged his phone from the charger with so much force that the plug came flying out the wall with it, landing softly on the bed. It was on thirty three percent, not great but it’d have to do. Maybe he could convince Leon to let him use his phone to take snaps this evening, the Champion would be so busy schmoozing with the other Champions that he wouldn’t even need it, right?

Positioning himself in front of the bathroom mirror, he took several shots in various ridiculous poses (leg up on the counter, leg up on the bath, pretending to stretch his leg against the shower wall, you name it he took it). He frowned as he swiped through them, if he was completely honest with you wearing a suit made him feel like a poser and they all looked dumb.

But being the attention seeker that he was, he posted three — the first one trying to get his leg up on the counter in his stiff suit pants, the second one having successfully made it and the third one attempting to get his leg down without tearing the seams — with the caption _‘getting ready for the Pokemon League Gala: a triptych”._ As he clicked post, his eyes drifted to the time and he saw that it was 6:17 and he was two minutes late.

In a mad dash, he grabbed his wallet and headed out, checking the status of his photos. There were a few comments already, a couple wishing him a good night and then another asking if he was really wearing his headband out with a suit. Exhaling through his nostrils, he tugged it off and shoved it into his jacket pocket. Arceus, that had almost been a disaster. Didn’t he tell you something always went wrong these events?

The foyer was empty when he got there bar the porter who was watching him with an amused expression as he whipped his head around frantically trying to find the rest of the Galar League. They were supposed to all meet here and head over to Wyndon Stadium together but by the looks of things they were all running late or they were all gone already. His heart hoped for the former but his head was telling him it was the latter.

“Hey, Raihan,” The young man finally said. “They all left a few minutes ago, told me to tell you that. If you make your way over now you’ll probably catch up with them before they head in. Nice photos, by the way.”

The heat in his cheeks instantly rose to that of a Flareon’s flame pouch and he looked down in embarrassment. He loved the attention when it was all online, hated when it reached his real life. “You saw those? I just posted them like two minutes ago.”

“Got nothin’ else to do,” He shrugged. “It’s a quiet night.”

The wait for a flying taxi took _forever_ (translation: five minutes) and by the time he’d disembarked and sprinted into the foyer of the stadium, he was huffing and puffing and wiping sweat off his forehead. The foyer was empty and he let his shoulders slump rather dramatically, they must already be inside the function room. _If that cabbie hadn’t taken so long,_ he thought to himself but deep down he knew it was his fault. Him and his stupid selfies.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is so silly

_Just push the door open, Raihan, just push it open._

He was hyper aware of his breathing as he stood by the entrance doors to the function room. He had expected there to be League staff around to help him out, but either he was in the entirely wrong place or they were all inside once again making him the only person out here in the foyer which didn’t help how he was feeling.

 _Enough faffing about, just open them up. You have to go in there sooner or later._ With one last deep breath, he brought his arms back rather dramatically and pushed the double doors open. He was expecting everyone from the entire world’s Pokemon League to turn and look at him as he barged through but what really happened was that no one even bat an eyelash. The place was absolutely packed to the brim and they were all too busy socialising to even notice his not-so gracious entry.

He did a quick survey of the room to see if he could see any of his fellow Galarian leaders but came up short. He did however notice Clair and Lance speaking not too far from where he was standing and in an instant, his head was down and he was heading in the opposite direction. Look, they were great dragon trainers but not the best to get stuck talking to at a party. Everyone had warned him about Clair last time but he hadn’t listened and had gone charging headfirst into a conversation with her and had come away feeling like he knew a lot less about dragon types than he’d initially thought. As for Lance — well, he was nice but Arceus that man could talk more than a Chatot.

Everyone seemed to be holding canapés and drinks, so he figured that the best course of action would be to find the drinks table and use that time to try and look for someone that he knew and could latch onto for the evening. The room was quite massive though and navigating his way through hordes of different gym leaders was a struggle and a half. Not to mention the loud music (bagpipes, can you believe it? He knew they were traditionally Galarian but _come on)_ pumping made it difficult to listen out for any familiar voices or at the very least, accents.

The drinks table was surprisingly close to where he’d walked in and he grabbed himself a glass of champagne. _“It’s imported directly from Kalos!”_ the server had told him and he’d just smiled and nodded. He liked to say that he was many things such as a dragon tamer and to an extent, an influencer but a sparkling wine connoisseur he unfortunately was not.

Taking a giant swig from the glass (winemakers around the world would have been horrified), he felt that familiar itch in his fingers to grab his phone out and take a photo. But visions of the depleting battery danced before his eyes and he decided to save it for a better opportunity, it was probably too dark in here to get anything clear anyway.

Feeling considerably less awkward now that he had a drink in his hand, he began to saunter around the remainder of the room, eyes scanning the crowds for a sign of anyone he recognised. At one point he saw Leon’s cap poking out above the crowds (man couldn’t take his hat off for one night apparently) and he beelined for him, breathing a sigh of relief. He felt the tension immediately melt away out of his shoulders and chest and if this place wasn’t such a sensory overload, he wouldn’t been slightly concerned at how much he’d been holding in there.

“Hey man!” Leon grinned when he noticed him approaching. “Glad you decided to show your face.”

He laughed back, waving his drink around. “Oh you know m…e…” His last word trailed off when he realised that Leon was talking to the one and only Steven Stone. You know, only the heir to the Devon Corporation and a former Champion. No biggie. “Hey, Mister Stone,” He held out his hand shakily. “I’m Raihan, a gym leader here in Galar.”

“Please, call me Steven. Or Steve for short, or Mister Stone if you’re nasty,” He chuckled as they shook hands. Possibly sensing the nervousness through his jittery hands, he continued, “I’m just joking, but please do just call me Steven. Mister Stone is my father. Your colleague and I were just talking about the potential for cross-Champion tournaments throughout the different regions.” And it was at that moment he tuned out, that sort of chat was way above his pay grade. Maybe next gala when he’d finally surpassed Leon, then they could talk about that.

He got through his drink fairly quickly just for lack of anything to do and when he downed the last of it, he tapped Leon on the shoulder and let him know he was going off to get another one. Anything to get out of this chat.

“Nice cap, by the way,” He remarked before heading off. “I like the tuxedo pattern on the top.”

“Thanks,” He pulled that signature Leon shit-eating grin again. “It’s my going out hat.” A roll of his eyes and a shake of his head and he was out of there, Leon was ridiculous. He shouldn’t have been called the Unbeatable Champion, but instead the Champion with a cap for every occasion. Seriously.

The crowds were hard to navigate his way through and he had to utter excuse me’s as he tried to to weave through. There was a particularly dense group of people about a foot from the drinks table and he stood on the outer of them, trying to work out the best way through. They were from Johto, he recognised the dialect they were speaking from the language classes he’d taken in school. Couldn’t understand a word of it though, taking the classes and doing well in them were two different things, after all.

He decided just to walk through them; there was seemingly no other way. So he squared up and pushed through (with a few pardon and excuse mes of course) and you know, it wasn’t as bad as he thought, they all parted for him. Except for one person who seemed to be oblivious to him trying to get through. A lady with pink hair — he thought her name was Whitney but don’t quote him on that — tugged on their sleeve to step out the way of him. They looked around and locked eyes and in an instant, he doubled his pace. It was Morty and he was _mortified._

He had never been in more need of a drink than he was right now and he wondered if it was appropriate to double park. The bartender raised an eyebrow as he reached for a second glass so he retracted his hand and just took one.

“Hey Raihan,” The voice caught him off guard and he whipped around suddenly, almost spilling the champagne. It was Piers, finally another familiar face! “How’re you findin’ the party? It’s really somethin’, huh?”

He felt a little bad because he gave Piers a very obvious once-over, but he couldn’t help it. He just looked so different! But it was a good different. His massive amounts of hair was pulled up into a knot at the top of his head and for the first time ever, he could see the right side of his face. It looked like he’d had the same idea with the pocket square, except his had morpeko all over it. It gave him less of his standard _I’m so over wherever we are right now_ vibe and more of a _let’s party_ one. Overall it was a good look, it suited him (heh get it, suit. He’d see himself out) but Raihan _bet_ that he felt even more uncomfortable than he did. It wasn’t his regular sort of attire.

“Piers, I’m so glad to see you!” He replied. “You have no idea how long I’ve been looking for someone I recognised.”

“Tell me about it, I just escaped a conversation with both Gordie and Milo. Look, they’re nice guys but as soon as Milo gets one drink in ‘im, he doesn’t know how to shut up.”

He was glad that out of everyone in the Galar League, it was Piers he’d run into. You’d probably find it hard to believe since their attitudes were completely different, but he’d always liked Piers. He was one of those people that was just effortlessly cool, you know? Plus, he was a singer-songwriter and that was a big tick for Raihan. He’d always respected people with that sort of talent, especially those that actually did something with it like Piers did. His music seemed to be fairly political and at times controversial, which was even better in Raihan’s books. He could probably stand to learn something from him.

“He’s young, he’ll get better at it.” He laughed and stepped away from the table as Volkner moved in to pick up a drink.

“Like you’re much older,” He shot back with a smug smile. “What are you, twenty three?”

“Add three more years to that. Arceus, I’m getting old.” He didn’t like thinking about it, next year he wouldn’t be able to say he was in his mid-twenties anymore and that shook him to his core. Even last year had been a struggle, culminating in him shaving his head, getting an eyebrow piercing and then some embarrassing posts on social media that you could still find online no matter how hard he tried to remove them. He was surprised Piers didn’t know his age because of that but he sure as hell wasn’t about to remind him.

“Snap, we’re the same age,” He answered. “Now that you mention it actually, I do remember a particular post or two of yours with —“

“Stop, stop!” He held his arm up to cover his eyes in mock (but also pretty real) embarrassment. “I’ve tried to repress that memory.”

“Naw don’t worry about it, I'd just gone through a break up when I turned twenty five. Couple that with a quarter life crisis and you have yourself some lyrics that'll make you full body cringe, I was just smart enough to not share it on social media. If I’m feeling particularly full of self loathing sometime, maybe I’ll show you,” He knew he was trying to make him feel better, but those posts could not be undone. “Hey, I think they’re about to leave that table over there. Do you wanna go sit down?” He jabbed in the direction of a small round table currently occupied by Burgh and Elesa. He watched as they downed the rest of their drinks and as soon as they got up to presumably get another round, the two of them swooped in and took the seats before anyone else could.

It was much better sitting down, he felt like he could finally start to enjoy himself and maybe if he sat here with Piers the whole night, he wouldn’t do anything else embarrassing. He could finally look around and check out the space without frantically trying to find someone he recognised and he had to admit, it was pretty cool. There was a big podium on the stage, probably for Chairman Rose to give a speech later and to the right, two massive bouquets of flowers. Chandelure-inspired lights hung from the ceiling, casting a purple glow over everything. As much as he hadn’t wanted to come, he was glad to be here.

“They’ve really outdone themselves.” He commented absentmindedly, eyes drifting around the room and settling on Piers who’s entire face was silhouetted in hues of purple and blue. It hid the tired bags under his eyes and he wondered if this is what he looked like when he was younger.

“I gotta admit it’s well done. Didn’t know what t’ expect when I got the invite the few months ago.”

“That’s right,” He said. “They only opened up the Spikemuth gym three years ago, didn’t they?”

“Yeah, a few months after this event I think,” He took a sip of his champagne and frowned, obviously he wasn’t a connoisseur either. “My band had just played a halftime show at the World Tournament in Unova and then they asked me to step up. I reckon they wanted the clout from it 'cause why else would they build a gym somewhere you can't dynamax? That's the whole novelty of our region. But I still think I’m doin’ an alright job regardless.”

He remembered that actually, the Galarian leaders hadn’t been able to make it because of wild weather but he’d seen the performance on the telly. It was cool, Piers could really wail. “I listen to your band, you guys sound cool. I can’t really give you more of an in-depth review because I don’t know anything about music, but keep your sound up.”

“Ah thanks,” He went to push his fringe out of his face (a nervous habit, perhaps?) but realised that it was tied up with the rest of his hair, so he looked down into his drink instead. “I never know what to say when people compliment us, y’know? It’s a bit embarrassing. But I’m glad you say we sound cool, though it’s not really the message we’re trying to put out.”

A loud squealing of the microphone interrupted their conversation and the bagpipes stopped, thank Arceus for that. He probably have substantial hearing loss by the end of the night thanks to them. Everyone’s heads turned to the podium at the front and Chairman Rose stepped out in front of the microphone. They glanced at each other, smiles tugging at the corners of both their lips. What sort of dad joke was he going to make this time?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I headcanon Piers's band has a screamer. or maybe Piers is the screamer


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm making this up on the fly like Raihan is.
> 
> Unedited and not read by a beta reader!

The speech went for a while, he didn’t know it was possible to talk for so long about cross-region relations (boring), Galarian history (even more boring, he thought he’d left that behind in school) and renewable energy resources (important but also the most boring of the three). The only upside was that he spliced the presentation in with puns which probably went over the heads of most of the attendees but certainly made him laugh. He was well into his third drink and starting to feel it at this point, so when Rose made a joke about Nickits, he accidentally laughed out loud and earned himself a disapproving glance from Leon across the room but a grin from Piers.

The night wasn’t nearly as bad as he’d been anticipating thanks to the company of a certain Galarian gym leader slash musician. He could fake it with crowds of people and wasn’t shy when all attention was on him but he much preferred to be one on one with someone. Less pressure that way, you know? He could say dumb things and only have to worry about one person hearing them, rather than a whole host.

But besides that, he was actually really enjoying hanging out with Piers. He’d said before that he’d always liked him, but in actuality they’d never really spent any length of time together. It was mostly just at League meetings or training sessions where everyone else was around, so if he really thought about it, he didn’t actually know him all that well. Sometimes he felt like he did though because of his music. He certainly knew all his political opinions, that’s for sure.

He discovered Piers’s band back in his early twenties, he’d been feeling particularly full of angst after losing to Leon one afternoon so was looking through the pre-made punk playlists on his music app on his phone. He’d put one on shuffle to train to (Galarian Punk Rockers it was called) and the 8029383 beats per minute that these bands played in and had pushed him to work really hard. One song had caught his attention though, it was the sort of song that you couldn’t not listen to. There was a loud wail at the beginning before the music came in and Raihan added it straight to his own playlist. After listening to that one song for a while, eventually he branched out and listened to their album and officially became a fan of the band Piers the Veil.

It was through that playlist that they’d found their fame, rising suddenly to become Galar’s number one alternative/heavy/punk/hardcore/whatever you’d classify them — Raihan didn’t know music, he just liked it — band. It wasn’t the same level of fame as say, Leon had but they definitely had a dedicated fanbase that still persisted to this day. Team Yell, they called themselves. Probably named after how loud they played their concerts, he distinctly remembered them breaching acceptable noise levels all across Galar several times.

And then he’d kind of just…forgotten about them. It wasn’t because they’d stopped releasing music or done something controversial that they’d been “cancelled” for lack of a better word, he’d just gotten so busy with the gym and learning how to be an adult that they had been shoved to the back of his brain. But then at a meeting one day, they announced that the gym in Wedgehurst was being shut down and replaced by one in Spikemuth and lo and behold, guess who the leader was. This brought them back to the forefront of his mind and he rocked out in his car to it for a few weeks.

“Arceus, that man talks more than Milo does.” The comment sent him hurtling back down to earth and he blinked a few times. Rose had wrapped up his speech and Piers was watching him, expectantly waiting for a response.

“Tell me about it,” He replied, hoping that he didn’t sound like a total space cadet. “Look I know finding renewable energy is a really pressing issue and I’m down to talk about that at some point, but right now everyone is pretty tipsy and probably not going to remember most of what was said. They’d be better off hosting a meeting tomorrow to discuss these things…well actually maybe not tomorrow with these free flowing drinks and all, but not right now,” There was a quarter of his glass left and he downed it in one before continuing. “I thought you weren’t a big fan of the Chairman anyway, didn’t you have a song about him a few years ago?”

“Ah…” He groaned softly while attempting to run his hand through his fringe again. Some stray hairs fell out of place and he pushed them back up. “Yeah, we did but in my defence I was only twenty. I was surprised they asked me to step up as leader considerin’ we weren’t very subtle, but now that i know ‘im he’s not such a bad guy.”

“Right right,” An eyebrow raise and a laugh. “You mean now that he’s paying your bills? Piers, you’re nothing but a sell out, mate.”

He held up his hand to protest and forgot that he was holding a glass full of alcohol, spilling it across the table. Raihan muttered _‘taxi’_ with a grin, it evidently wasn’t just him feeling the effects. “Hey no way, I genuinely don’t mind Rose now. Macro Cosmos on the other hand, I got a few thoughts on ‘em.”

“Yeah? Spill.”

“Oh, I’ll tell you another time when it’s just us. I fear I’ll get loud and accidentally offend someone or lose my job, y’know?” He wasn’t sure what it was or why it happened, but when Piers said _‘just us’_ , his stomach twinged. It was tiny but it was there, a good twinge that was probably more akin to a butterfly. He chalked it up to the alcohol and lack of food, it was probably just a hunger pang. Piers noticed when he touched his abdomen lightly, eyebrows knitted together in concern but he just waved it off.

They sat in silence for a brief moment after that, the conversation having died off naturally. The room was fuller now. There were people he didn’t recognise filling the space which was weird because he thought he knew all the other gym leaders. Perhaps they were League staff from the other regions or something like that.

While he was trying to work this out, Piers had shifted his chair closer and began in a hushed tone, “Oi, you see those two over there?” He was leaning so in close that Raihan could smell his perfume mixed with the slight tinge of alcohol on his breath. He followed his gaze, eyes settling on Janine and Falkner who were giggling by the wall together. “They were late to the World Tournament opening ceremony, came rushin’ in together halfway through while everyone was watchin’.”

“What are you saying?”

“I’m not saying’ nothin’,” He laughed and Raihan laughed too but he couldn’t help but notice how intimate this felt. He knew it was unintentional but goodness, Piers was close to him. “Apparently to this day they won’t admit what was goin’ on, but I think everyone has guessed already. As for those two over there…” He continued to rattle off gossip about half the gym leaders in the room and even a champion or two and Raihan was _loving_ it despite the intimacy. Well actually, he had no problem with how close they were, don’t get him wrong. The closeness was just unexpected. Yeah, that was it.

“How do you know all that stuff?”

Finally having exhausted all his knowledge, he straightened back up and leant away. “I dunno, people just tell me things. Sorry for dumpin’ it all on you, it was drivin’ me crazy keeping it all inside,” _Please,_ if he only knew how much Raihan liked a good bitch session. “Hey, you want another drink? I’ll go get it if you wanna guard the table.”

He watched him as he was enveloped by the crowd, disappearing into what was probably another dimension. That’s what this place felt like anyway, somewhere far removed from reality where time went slowly and the length of speeches wasn’t monitored.

Suddenly feeling bored from the lack of attention, he grabbed his phone out. Thirty one percent left on the battery, what a relief. He opened up his post from before and was flooded with notifications of likes and comments, most of them now that laughing with tears emoji and people tagging their friends. As annoyed as he’d been earlier about being late, he couldn’t deny he loved the attention the photos were bringing him. So much so that he figured now was a good time to upload another one.

Positioning his empty glass in front of his face, he held his phone up to snap a photo. It was a little dark so he shifted the chair over slightly and attempted another one, and another.

“Raihan!” The voice made him jump and his grip tightened, taking one last shot of him looking surprised. Leon was standing over him, an amused expression gracing his features. He was also holding two drinks in his hands and Raihan couldn’t help but wonder how he was getting away with it. Yet another perk to being the Champion. “Jeez, you can’t stop it even for one night.” He tilted his head towards a chair as if asking for permission to sit down and Raihan nodded.

“What else am I going to do while I’m sitting here alone? Anyway, take a photo with me, I’m worried I’m going to drink too much and forget to take any.”

“No way, mate. Last time you uploaded a photo of us you wrote that dumb caption that people teased me about for weeks.”

He let out a noise that wasn’t unlike a snort and a _ha!_ It had been their most recent battle and he’d (un)surprisingly lost, but had still taken a photo to commemorate the occasion. Unfortunately for Leon, the shot had been ill-timed and he’d been looking down at his charizard in concern while Raihan grinned cheesily into the camera. The caption had read _‘the virgin Leon vs. the Chad Raihan’_ and when Leon had seen the post hours later, he’d received a flurry of texts with varying angry emojis.

“Arceus, I’m funny,” He wiped a pretend tear off his cheek for effect. “But I promise you I won’t write anything too bad this time.” There was a sigh from his friend but he shifted over anyway and scooched in close for a selfie of the two of them. He obviously didn’t believe a word of what Raihan was saying and rightly so because he had no intention of keeping that promise.

“You know, you could have stayed and chatted with Steven and I. He asked me where you went off to after you hadn’t returned for over an hour.” Okay he did feel a little bad, he’d hadn’t said goodbye to Mister Stone and that probably wasn’t a great reflection on him as the strongest gym leader in the region. But also, it had just been _so_ boring.

“In your dreams,” He laughed. “Plus there wasn’t really anything I could have added to the conversation. Anyway, I’ve been hanging out with Piers. He’s gone to get us another drink.”

“Oh?” The remark surprised him and he wasn’t sure what to make of it. Leon seemed to be implying something for some reason, but he wasn’t sure what it was. He decided to just ignore it for now otherwise it would eat him up inside until he was banging on Leon’s hotel door at 6am asking what he meant by it.

“Hey, look it’s the unbeatable Champion,” The accent drifted into their conversation and they both turned to find Piers standing there, a drink in each hand. “Sorry Leon, if I’d known you’d be sittin’ here I would have gotten ya a drink too.”

“Nah, it’s all good, mate. I’ve got my hands full anyway,” He lifted both glasses up and took a sip out of each one for reasons unknown. Perhaps just to flex. “However I am going to have to love and leave you, have to go do my duty and talk with Lance. Pour one out for me.” He winked at Raihan as he got up, further confusing the poor guy. With a quick wave of his hand, he was off to go chat to another unmanageable dragon trainer.

He took his drink from Piers and had a sip. This one was fruity and sweeter, not very nice. He must have pulled some sort of stank face because Piers remarked that it was a different type, Galarian sparkling this time. No wonder it tasted gross, look he loved Galar and it would always be home but they weren’t renowned for their winemaking abilities.

“Wish they had proper wine.” He lamented while drinking it anyway.

“You’re a wine drinker? I wouldn’t have picked ya for one.”

“Why? Cause I look like a beer drinking bloke? That’s very judgmental of you, Piers. There’s a lot that would surprise you about me.” As soon as he said it, he regretted it. Why would he say something that could be construed as flirtatious so easily? It had to be the alcohol, _surely._ His tongue was feeling looser that’s for sure, but he hadn’t had enough yet to stop feeling embarrassed.

He expected Piers to look around awkwardly or get up and leave because he’d made him feel uncomfortable, and that would have been totally justified. But instead, he grinned. A proper, toothy grin this time that showed off his blindingly white and impossibly straight probably from years of orthodontic treatment as a teen teeth.

“My bad, dunno why I even said that,” He shrugged. “Oh I meant to say this before but I forgot, I like your suit. Looks expensive, unlike mine which I’ve had since I was eighteen. Never thought I’d see you in one but it looks good on ya.”

Okay, were Leon and Piers in on something? Were they attempting to confuse him as much as possible? Because as he sat there, a little drunk but still in his right mind, he wasn’t sure _what_ he was feeling. It had to be the attention surely, he hadn’t had it from someone he found ~~attractive~~ cool in a long time. But true to his character, he pushed the confusion away and said under a ruse of obliviousness, “Thanks! I would have worn my old one except my body thought I wasn’t tall enough back then and grew another foot. Had to buy a new one.”

Yep, real smooth. Good one, mate.


	4. Chapter 4

He’d never told him, but Piers had been following Raihan on social media before he’d become the gym leader of Spikemuth. He hadn’t known anything about him other than the fact he was a gym leader but had stumbled across his account on his explore page one afternoon. The photo was a close up of him stuffing his face with a Rage Candy bar with a caption along the lines of _‘what that mouth do’,_ and the sheer silliness of it had prompted Piers to go and look at his profile.

Every photo was just ridiculous and although he didn’t like to admit it, some of the captions had made him laugh out loud. Apparently two months ago he’d gone through a phase of crouching down in front of various landmarks with his hands clasped together as if in prayer, accompanied by hashtags such as _‘#blessedslumberingweald’ or_ ‘ _#thankyoubasedhammerlocke’._ It was a marvel to Piers that someone so conventionally attractive would have no qualms about posting things that would make him look so stupid, but damn it was funny and he gave him a follow.

He’d had a scroll right back through his profile to see when exactly he’d blown up and managed to pin point it at Christmastime four years ago. Raihan had posted a video of himself lip-syncing to a carol by a Unovan singer, Nancy (or maybe Yancy?) in his bathroom. _Santa Tell Me,_ the song was and he only knew that because it was the only one they’d played on the radio that Christmas. He did _not_ like Christmas carols, don’t get it twisted.

The video had only lasted fifteen seconds or so but it garnered so many views that a week later, he’d posted another one. This time it was him lip syncing as if his life depended on it on the battlefield of Hammerlocke Stadium while all the other leaders begrudgingly danced behind him. He wondered how he’d convinced half of then to do that, it didn’t seem like the sort of thing Kabu or Bea (just to name a few) would be into. Nevertheless, this one got even more views and since then his popularity had steadily risen.

When Piers hit that follow button he already had well over two hundred thousand followers so he wasn’t sure if he’d noticed. Probably not, he’d never said anything about it. Probably assumed that he’d followed him when he’d been instated as leader and had followed everyone else out of courtesy. He had no intention of letting it slip that he’d been a fan for a while, it would just be awkward and he could imagine the conversation now. _“Hey uh, I’ve been following’ you for years because I think you’re hilarious and now we’re working together. Isn’t that funny? Ha…ha…”_ No thank you, it would just be tragic and awkward.

He admired his confidence in posting such things, the ability to make fun of oneself was something that he’d like to learn from Raihan. You only had to take one listen to his band’s music to know that he took things very seriously and while there was certainly a time and place for that, it was okay to be silly sometimes. His own social media — though boasting an impressive quarter-mil of followers — was a lot less fun, mostly with band shots and occasionally some tour dates and promo material. If you went back far enough there was probably some entertaining stuff on there, but entertaining in a cringeworthy sense.

But back in the present, Raihan had continued to talk about their outfits even though there wasn’t really anywhere for the conversation to go. He seemed to have a habit of it, finding a normally mundane conversation topic and somehow talking about it for so long that it became interesting. Dragging out details and filling the air with random comments about the subject. He could probably write a dissertation on just about anything with that skill, seriously If he spoke like this, he couldn’t even imagine what it was like in his brain. Exhausting, probably.

“Who would have thought i would have continued to grow at twenty two. An inch or two would have made sense but a whole foot? I belong in a circus.”

“Shut ya gob,” His voice came out sounding shakier then he’d expected thanks to the booze. “What are ya, six foot eight? Six foot nine? Most guys would kill to be that height. I know I would and I’m not even a particularly small dude.”

“Nah, it’s not worth it,” He scrunched up his face, surprised by the volume of his own words. “I’ve hit my head on doorframes before, sometimes so hard that one time Leon had to take me to the hospital for a concussion. And don’t even get me started on trying to find pants that fit. It’s why I always wear shorts, but even then they end up looking like booty shorts half the time. Don’t get it wrong, there’s nothing wrong with booty shorts but there’s a time and place, and that place is not my gym.”

Piers tried to take a sip of his drink but the smile he was wearing from the conversation made it hard. He was on number four and was trying to slow down anyway though, so that wasn’t a bad thing. He’d started feeling the effects a while ago and had managed to keep himself appearing relatively sober, but he was starting to doubt that now with how his voice sounded. It was hard to concentrate on his surroundings with all the noises echoing around him. If he’d calculated correctly, Raihan was one drink ahead of him and if how loud he’d just been was any indication, he was skirting dangerously close to straight up drunk territory.

“Who are all these extra people?” His companion’s words ran together quickly, almost in a jumble. The whiplash in change of topic was also another indication. “I don’t recognise half of them.”

“I dunno, I’m assumin’ plus ones.” He shrugged. In all honesty, he hadn’t thought about it. He didn’t know all of the other region’s gym leaders as he hadn’t been at the last event, so he’d figured they were just ones he didn’t recognise. But since Raihan didn’t recognise them either, maybe not.

“We were allowed to bring plus ones?”

“Yeah, it was written on the invite,” He’d considered bringing Marnie along, she was going to take over from him one day and it would have been good for her to meet all the other leaders. But the more he’d thought about it over the weeks, he’d come to the conclusion that it probably wasn’t the best environment for a teen so he’d left her back in Spikemuth. She hadn’t seemed particularly interested in coming anyway, it wasn’t her scene. It wasn’t his either but he had no excuse. “You had someone you were gonna bring along?”

“No way,” He went to place his cheek down in his hand but misjudged the distance and his head just ended up falling forward. “I am single and _more_ than ready to mingle.”

He raised his glass in solidarity and Raihan smiled softly, appreciating the gesture. It was true though, he understood what he was saying. He’d been in a relationship up until last year, with it ending mutually but still because of Piers’s busy schedule. He’d gone through a big _woe is me_ phase for a few weeks afterwards, writing lyrics that made him sound like he was fifteen years old and experiencing heartbreak for the first time. Then he’d gone back to work and realised that hey, it wasn’t the end of the world and that just _maybe_ it had been for the best anyway.

“I’ve been single for coming up two years now, but who’s counting,” He shrugged. “I’m fine by myself but I do miss having another person to always talk to, you know? And Arceus knows I like to talk.”

“Did you have a traumatic break up or somethin’?” If they’d been sober, they might have been more reluctant to open up about things like this. But admittedly it was nice to be able to chat without feeling embarrassed, even if it was thanks to the alcohol.

“Not in the slightest,” He laughed, taking a final gulp of his drink. “I had been dating this girl for about a year but she ended things with me because I was too busy with the gym apparently. Funny thing is my boyfriend before her dumped me for the same reason, so I guess they were on to something. But I’ve been working on my work-life balance for the past two years and I think I’m a lot better at it now.”

“Oh I didn’t realise you were —“

“Yep.”

Piers wasn’t sure if he was surprised or not. He can’t say Raihan’s orientation had been something he’d ever thought about, it had just never seemed like an important topic _to_ think about. His own, however, had caused many sleepless nights. He’d had girlfriends and he’d had boyfriends and seemed to enjoy both equally, but he’d never been quite sure what to label himself. It had been difficult being in the public eye and trying to figure oneself out, but he’d finally come to the conclusion that he simply liked people. Vibing with them was way more important than anything else, at least for him.

“I don’t ever recall seein’ ya post anything online about datin’ someone.”

“I try not to do that because…um be…cause…?” He repeated himself a few times, trying to find the answer through his champagne-brain. “Because not everyone wants to have a lotta followers online. Just cause I do doesn’t mean they should have to be subjected to all the mean comments and stuff, does that make sense?”

Wow, that wasn’t what he was expecting from him. He’d expected him to be more of a do anything for attention sorta guy, but he was in fact a do anything for attention but still remain considerate sorta guy. Something about that warmed his chilly little heart and he smiled into his glass. He was glad that he’d decided to get his attention earlier.

“I get it, people can be nasty as,” He wasn’t one to shy away from confrontation online and some of his opinions tended to upset the older folk of Galar, but the comments did occasionally get to him. “But ya got my full permission to post photos with me. I don’t really care about ‘em.”

“You don’t count,” He leant forward, his mouth breaking into a grin showing off his one random fang. “You’ve got just as many followers as me. Let’s take a photo though, I want to have memories of tonight in case I have no memories in the morning.”

Raihan dragged his chair over and held Rotom up, with arms as long as his he was a bona fide selfie stick. Piers stuck his fingers up in a backwards peace sign and Raihan just grinned a grin so large his eyes were almost completely shut.

Once they pulled away, he said, “Don’t you dare write a stupid caption, I’ve seen what you’ve written about Leon before.”

“Aw don’t you worry about that,” He chuckled, zooming in on the photo and checking out his own face. “I only write dumb captions with him because he gets all worked up about it. By the way, did you wanna get up and start making the rounds with me? I feel like we should probably go and say hello to some of the other gym leaders.”

“If we have to.” He didn’t mind too much really, he’d done enough interviews with his band over the years that he was good at the smalltalk. He just doubted his ability to make a lot of sense right now, especially to the people he’d never met before.

“Believe me, I don’t want to either and I’m reluctant to give up this table,” He glanced over his shoulder at the multiple groups of people waiting to pounce as soon as they got up. “It’s good to keep up appearances though. I’ll go get us another drink and then we can go.”

It wasn’t so bad in the end, the loud music blaring through the room hid their inability to control their indoor voices and the more they chatted, the more Piers realised that everyone was feeling the free drinks just as much as he was. He’d built up enough of a rapport with Raihan beforehand that it was easy for them to bounce comments off each other, giving each other sly looks each time they were asked to repeat themselves because of their accents or used a slang word that wasn’t understood.

They’d spoken to a good third of the gym leaders and elite when Raihan felt a hand on his back and spun around, almost knocking the glass out of Piers’s hand and shouldering Leon whom the hand belonged to.

“Thank Arceus and all the other legendaries out there I found you two,” Piers will swear to this day that he’s never heard someone sound more relieved than Leon did in that very moment. “I’ve been stuck talking to Lance and Karen this whole time and they were being right berkeley hunts.”

Ah, Postwick rhyming slang. Every Galarian child went through a phase of using it with their friends to try and get away with swearing in front of adults. Problem was, the adults had done the same thing when they were kids and knew _exactly_ what they were saying. Most kids eventually grew out of the phase but since Leon was actually _from_ Postwick, it had become a part of his vernacular and he spoke it with an ease that would have made twelve year old Piers green with envy.

“It’s been almost _two hours_ ,” Raihan shook his head and his body swayed with it. “Big Fs in the chat, mate. Go down a few more drinks to help.”

He held up his two glasses of champagne with a grin. “Why do you think I’m double parking? I used this as an excuse to get away from the _riveting_ conversation about Blackthorn City’s history, wouldn’t let me get a word in. It was interesting the first time but mate, you strike up this conversation every time you see me.”

“We felt real sorry for you, didn’t we, Piers?” He elbowed Piers in the arm who simply nodded in agreement. He stopped mid-nudge and Piers felt him stiffen up next to him. “I’ll be right back, I’m just going to go check my face in the bathroom.”

Without waiting a moment longer, he took off and strode towards the bathroom. Strode was probably an ambitious way to put it actually, his feet were crossing over each other in an odd fashion and the top half of his body swayed out of time with the bottom half. It was at that point Piers realised how alcohol-affected he actually was and wondered if he looked the same to everyone else here.

“He’s going off to spew.” Leon said it so matter of factly that Piers did a double take. _What?_

“How do ya know that?”

“It’s not the first time I’ve seen him drunk.” He shrugged. They stared at each other for a moment and then in an instant, were both following him. He should have known this was coming as they knocked back drink after drink but Raihan had held it together pretty well that he hadn’t expected…well, _this._


	5. Chapter 5

The men’s room was disgusting, it stunk like piss and there was toilet paper hanging over one of the open cubicle doors. Brawly was standing by the mirror and had his hands placed on both sides of a basin, staring down into it and looking rather green in the face himself. It just went to show that no matter how fancy a venue was, people could not be trusted to keep the bathrooms clean. In a weird way, it reminded Piers of the alleyways back home but that didn’t provide any sort of comfort really. A lot of people in Spikemuth were gross.

On their trek over here, Leon had been stopped by Cynthia from the Sinnoh League who had told him she needed to have a chat. He’d refused at first but upon glancing over to where she’d come from, they’d noticed she’d gathered all the Champions. With a sigh, he’d followed her and had left Piers to deal with Raihan (who wasn’t feeling too crash hot himself right now).

There was one cubicle door shut and he could see a pair of dark shoes facing towards the bowl. He hadn’t had a chance to check out what sort of shoes Raihan had been wearing so he just had to chance that they did indeed belong to him. Suspicions of what he’d come to the bathroom for were soon confirmed when the ever-present sound of running water in bathrooms was joined by the _extremely pleasant_ sound of retching.

Tentatively, he stepped towards the closed door and said, “Oi mate, you alright?”

His response came in the form of the toilet flushing and the crinkling of fabric as the occupant stood up. Piers stepped backwards just in time for the door to swing open, and he found himself face to face with Raihan who was looking very sorry for himself. He stared at Piers for a moment and then glanced down at his suit, straightening it up for something to do with his hands.

Piers moved out of the way for him but wasn’t able to hold back a smug smile as he splashed his face at the basin and cleaned himself up. He was watching Piers through the mirror, his face reddening at the situation. “Uh…I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be,” He laughed. “I’ve been there before. Pretty close to it now, actually.”

He grabbed him a glass of water when they went back out to gala floor and when he’d returned with it, had found Raihan sitting at a table staring into the distance. He must have felt really off because most of the table was inhabited by Unovian leaders and he would _not_ have sat down here otherwise. He sculled the first glass and smiled gratefully when Piers handed him a second.

“I reckon we should head back to the hotel,” He suggested, looking down at his unwell companion. “C’mon, I’ll find us a taxi.”

“No, I don’t want to ruin your night,” He was trying to be convincing but the way his chin was slumped into his hands wasn’t doing a very good job of it. “And I’m fine, I just need some water.”

“You’ve already ‘ad two glasses and you’re still lookin’ like you’re about to spew.” Raihan couldn’t argue with that, the two empty cups on the table didn’t lie. With a sigh of acceptance, he placed his hands down onto the surface of the table and pushed himself up to standing. The crowd had fortunately thinned out a little now and it seemed the weren’t the first ones to leave.

The journey towards the exit doors was an interesting one, Piers had to close one of his eyes because with both of them open the room was a little unsteady. But speaking of unsteady, Raihan’s first few steps were okay but the longer he was on his feet, the more wonky they became. Roughly two metres before they reached the outside, he bumped into Piers’s shoulder and Piers had to hold his arm around him to keep him steady for the rest of the way.

They both muttered a quick apology to the cabbie when they hopped into the backseat of the car and he just grunted in response and mumbled something along the lines of _“one of yas better not hurl”_. He was greying and had a rough look in his eyes, had probably been driving for years and seen this all before.

He’d decided not to order a flying taxi for fear of Raihan hurling all over an unsuspecting citizen of Wyndon from above, but now he wasn’t so sure he’d made the right decision. The bumpy drive wasn’t helping their situation in the slightest and Raihan had slid down in his seat and was well on his way to being horizontal. “I’m so sorry,” He repeated. “I probably ruined your night and to think I was having such a good time too.”

“Stop apologising, ya didn’t ruin anything. If you hadn’t gone off to be sick then I would have probably kept drinkin’ and be in a much worse state than you.” He replied with a laugh. Though he was happy to hear that he’d been having a good enough time as he did find his own presence dull and at times insufferable most days. Was nice to know that not everyone felt the same way.

A particularly big speed bump sent them both flying off their seats for a moment and when they landed, Raihan’s head bumped into his shoulder. Probably too drunk to realise it was there, he let it settle and Piers suddenly became aware just how close they were. He could smell his cologne and it reminded him of the one Leon wore (or rather, bathed himself in that he stunk up whatever room he was entered). He wondered if it did belong to the Champion, they seemed pretty close after all. So close that Nessa had asked him one day if something was going on between them.

He wasn’t sure if he was going to lift himself back up but as he stared out the window, watching the darkened and now quiet streets pass them by it became evident that he wasn’t going anywhere. In fact, the weight got heavier indicating that Raihan was letting himself relax into the position. Piers didn’t shift away, who was he to make his drunk coworker’s situation worse?

“You know I really like your band.” The words were so quiet that Piers almost didn’t catch them.

“Yeah, you told me earlier.”

“No, I mean _really_ like them,” He continued. “I didn’t wanna say anything earlier because you’d just think I was hanging out with you because of that. You might still think that, I don’t know, but it’s not the only reason. You got me through some tough times when I thought I wasn’t cut out to be a gym leader and I listened to your latest album for weeks when it came out. I feel like a dork admitting that but it’s true.”

“Aw, ta. That’s my real passion so it’s good to hear it.” He went to brush his fringe out his eyes for the fiftieth time that night. _Now would be the perfect time,_ he thought to himself, _to tell him that you’ve been following him for years._ But he hesitated a moment too long, second guessing himself that it got too late to say anything. So he just sat there, thanking Arceus that the cab was dimly lit and Raihan couldn’t see his red face.

He’d cooled down by the time the car pulled up but he almost wished his face hadn’t. Being as pale as he was and moonlight didn’t mix and when he caught a glance of his reflection in the hotel window, he couldn’t help but think he looked like the walking dead. Fed up with his hair being tied up so high on his head, he yanked it out the bun and it tumbled down his shoulders. It gave him a great sense of relief, he was less exposed now and it had been starting to give him a headache.

The sight of this giant ball of hair must have startled Raihan because he toppled back onto the seat and Piers had to grab his elbow and yank him out of the car.

“It’s so long,” He marvelled. “Looks good though.”

“I just hate going to the hairdresser.” He shrugged. Having hair this long _was_ annoying but it certainly made him look like the rockstar he’d always wanted to be.

A trip up to the floor the Galarian leaders’ were all put up in revealed to the two that Raihan had left his room key _inside_ the room, which didn’t surprise Piers at all. In fact, he was more surprised that he hadn’t expected it. Fortunately the front desk was still staffed and they headed back down to get another one activated.

The receptionist was watching them with a sour expression as they approached, lips pouting as if she’d been sucking on a lemon. When they explained what had happened, her expression deepened. “What’s your room number, sir?” She said through gritted teeth.

“Oh…good question,” He replied, turning to look at Piers with knitted eyebrows. “Do you remember, Piers?”

“How would I know?”

“Sir, if you don’t remember your room number you can show me some ID and I can check it with that.” He fished his wallet out from his back pocket and fingered through the slots, looking for a form of photo ID. Eventually he pulled out his trainer card and Piers caught a glimpse of a young Raihan, greasy-faced and an attempt at a beard. He couldn’t help but chuckle at the photo and the receptionist shot him a look, it was a no fun zone in here apparently.

Eventually they made it back up and Piers followed Raihan into his room (the clothes left on the floor didn’t go unnoticed either). It was late and he was tired but in all honesty, he was a little worried for him and didn’t think he should be left alone to hurl again. It was a good thing he didn’t because as soon as they stepped out of the hallway, Raihan yanked his suit jacket off and threw himself down in front of the toilet bowl.

He watched amusedly but with a great deal of sympathy for a moment before slumping down against the bathroom door, just outside the toilet. He let him crouch there in silence, keeping a quiet eye to make sure there was no risk of him falling unconscious. After nothing happened after ten minutes, Raihan turned around so he could see Piers (but remained close to the toilet). He’d sobered up a bit now, enough to carry on a conversation with proper volume control at least.

“I feel like rubbish,” He admitted, falling back onto his hands so he was in a sitting position. “And I do wish I hadn’t had that final drink, but it’s just so easy when you’re socialising and in the swing of things.”

“You’re preachin’ to the choir,” He nodded. “It’s so easy to get wrapped up in partyin’ when you’re out playing gigs all the time, makes it hard to say no when someone offers you a drink.” He’d almost fallen into that trap when his band had first had some success. It was practice during the day, play a gig at night and then rinse and repeat. So when a promoter or a band member would buy him a drink, he’d tell himself he deserved it. And he did deserve it…just not every single night.

It was hard to say no but when he realised that it was taking a toll on his work performance, his pokemon training schedule and his physical self, he realised he couldn’t keep it up. They’d sat down as a band after that and had a chat, coming to the conclusion that they could drink and party on occasion but it couldn’t happen all the time. It set a good example for Marnie too and to him, that was the most important thing.

“Hey,” Raihan said. Piers had shifted around so he was sitting and facing him now. “I wouldn’t have made it through tonight without you. I really didn’t want to be there.”

“Neither did I, I like parties but the pressure is too much at these gala things.”

They settled down into a quiet again and Piers wondered if now would be the right time to leave. It was probably kind of awkward for Raihan to have him hanging out in his hotel room so late. He’d given him no indication he wanted him to leave though, but then again he’d given him no indication to stay either. But if he really thought hard about it, he didn’t actually want to go just yet.

“Do you enjoy being a gym leader?” The question caught him off guard and he looked up in surprise.

“Oh uh…yeah,” Was the reply. “I’ve always enjoyed trainin’ my pokemon so it’s cool to be paid for it. I’m gonna give the job to my little sister when she’s old enough though. She’s got more talent than me and it’s not like my band is goin’ anywhere. What about you?”

“I love it,” He certainly didn’t seem happy about it when he said it though. He paused for a moment and seemed to be considering if he wanted to continue. “I’m not very good at anything else anyway, so thank Arceus I’ve got this.”

“Not true, you got ya social media accounts. People love those.”

“I guess, but being an attention seeker isn’t really a marketable talent.”

He hmm’d in response, unsure of how to answer that. He had to say it now though, it was the perfect set up. And by it he meant admitting that he followed him, that old chestnut. You know, the thing he’d been thinking about all night. It would be less weird since Raihan had started the chain of conversation, right?

So with a deep breath he began, “I gotta tell ya that I’ve been followin’ you for years, way before I became a gym leader. I think you’re hilarious both online and offline,” Raihan was watching him intently and he had to look away, worried that he was going to explode from the embarrassment. “I didn’t wanna tell ya because it’s such an awkward thing to admit, y’know? You’re really cool.”

“Even right now?” He grinned. “Because I feel like the least cool person in Galar.”

“Even right now.”

He wondered if Raihan felt as awkward as he did and now he just felt like some fanboy. But he probably got this in his DMs all the time, right? So it was nothing new, nothing weird. Maybe he was just overthinking the whole thing and it wasn’t even a big deal, that could also be likely. He had been known to do that every once in a while.

But Raihan wasn’t looking awkward at all, in fact he was still smiling at him. It wasn’t a big grin anymore though, it was a soft smile and it made Piers squirm. “What time is your flight home tomorrow?”

“Midday, we’re on the same flight like on the way over here. Spikemuth doesn’t have an airport so they fly me into Hammerlocke and then I gotta catch the train home. Maybe I can convince Rose to spring for a taxi, I don’t fancy luggin’ my bags through the station.” Good, this was a good distraction from the last topic.

“Did you want to go out for coffee or breakfast tomorrow then? Make the most of the time in Wyndon.”

Uh…what was that? He’d been in many-a relationship before and it sort of sounded like he was… “Whatcha playin’ at, Raihan? This kinda sounds like a date. You better not be yankin’ my chain or messin’ with me.”

“Do you want it to be a date?”

“Uh…do you?”

“I’m putting my heart and feelings out here right now Piers and the alcohol has not helped, but yes I do.”

“Good well,” He scoffed and looked down, heat rising to his cheeks. “I think you're really fit so yeah, I do too.”

The grin that Piers saw upon uttering those words would go down in history as the biggest one he’d ever see or would ever see again. He wondered if it was going to split his face in half or pull a muscle in his cheeks. “Cool,” He said. “Let’s meet in the hallway at nine.”

* * *

He’d woken up feeling a little seedy in the morning and he briefly wondered how Raihan was feeling. Probably much worse. But then he remembered the date conversation and began to panic. What if he’d just asked because he was drunk? What if he didn’t even remember? Both situations were fairly likely and he didn’t want to get his hopes up.

As a distraction, he opened up his phone and was immediately bombarded with photos from last night. Three photos down, he saw his potential date had posted one half an hour ago. It was the photo they’d taken together last night and it was the only thing he’d uploaded which kind of made Piers feel a little better about everything.

 _I know I normally write dumb or sarcastic captions on all my uploads, but this one deserved a sincere one. I got to hang out with the coolest person in the entire Galarian Pokemon League last night and I feel like the luckiest guy @piers_galar_

It was Piers’s turn to smile this time. A smile so big that he had to stretch his jaw out afterwards. He hadn’t smiled like that in years and goddamnit, he couldn’t believe it was Raihan making him do it. A quick glance at the time told him it was eight-thirty and that was enough to get him to jump out of bed (despite the hangover).

But what did you expect, he had a date.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading!!!


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